The 126-year-old Cape Leeuwin Lighthouse, often the first or last sighting of Australia for sailors on southern shipping routes, is being renovated and restored.
Key points:
- A restoration project is currently underway at the historic Cape Leeuwin Lighthouse
- At 39 metres tall, the lighthouse is the tallest on mainland Australia
- The project aims to make the site safe, but also retain historical features
Australian’s tallest mainland lighthouse was constructed from local limestone in 1895 at the most south-westerly point of the continent, around 300 kilometres south of Perth.
It is still fully operational and overlooks the place where the Southern and Indian Oceans meet.
From September 2021 until April 2022, the Australian Maritime Safety Authority will oversee the contracted upgrade works, with a vast scaffold network currently engulfing the historic 39 metre structure.
The aim of the restoration works is to ensure the navigation aid continues to serve the mariner for many years to come, while also preserving the historic nature of the lighthouse.
Paul Sofilas, a senior tour guide and research officer at the lighthouse, said he was excited about the restoration.
“It’s a pretty iconic spot for visitors because it’s where the two oceans meet and you’ve got whales in winter,” he said.
“So when it opens it’s going to be really amazing to check out.”
Weather at the cape can be extreme so the works had to wait until conditions and wind speeds were more suitable.
“This is the time of year where the weather is the best,” Mr Sofilas said.
“In July and August we had 13 days with winds over 100 kilometres an hour.
“So you can imagine trying to put a scaffold up in that weather.”
Not to make it look new
Apart from a few battles with wild weather, contracting project manager Craig Syson said work was close to schedule.
“These things don’t get a major renovation that often in their life so it’s not really something that you do every day,” he said.
“But having said that, this is my second [lighthouse project].
“We did one over Rottnest Island, we’re just finishing that now, which was a very similar scope to this and built around about the same time.
“So you take learnings from one and move on to the next.”
Mr Syson said one of the aims of the restoration works was to preserve the historic nature of the lighthouse.
“We need to make sure it’s safe and part of making sure it’s safe is really to do with the corrosion inside the steelwork.
“But that’s the only thing that that we are doing to make sure is new, everything else has got to be refurbed.
According the the Australian Maritime Safety Authority, the Cape Leeuwin Lighthouse remains an important marine aid to navigation.
A spokesperson said the lighthouse warned ships of the cape itself and the multiple hazards to navigation that exist, including the St Alouarn Islands and associated rocks and reefs.
In addition, a large, unsurveyed area lies to the west of Cape Leeuwin.
The lighthouse is required as a navigation mark for vessels transiting around the south-west corner of Australia.
‘Amazing’ place to live and work
As well as working at the lighthouse and leading some of the daily average 16 tours up and down the steps, Mr Sofilas also lives at the Cape Leeuwin site.
“You got to like extreme weather, which I do, I love the power of mother nature,” he said.
“And it’s a pretty quick commute.
“I’ve bought an old car every three years because they rust out pretty quickly. So there’s certain aspects to living in a salty environment that change what you do.”
Mr Syson said while they spent a lot of time monitoring the weather, the cape was a spectacular place to work each day.
“It’s absolutely amazing,” he said.
“Every day I come to site, I’m always the first here, and it doesn’t get old. I’m pretty lucky.”
Restoration work at the Cape Leeuwin Lighthouse is expected to be complete by Easter 2022.
